


Act 1; Scene 2

by littlepinkbow



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Band Break Up, Crushes, Falling In Love, Fluff, Golf, Hiatus, M/M, Sad Zayn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-04
Updated: 2015-05-04
Packaged: 2018-03-28 22:23:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3871951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlepinkbow/pseuds/littlepinkbow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Huh?” Niall’s voice was sleep thick and warm when he answered his voice and he was very clearly disoriented. “You okay?” Niall said finally, the sounds in the background, signaling that he was sitting up in bed and moving the covers around. </p>
<p>Zayn nearly laughed at that, but it wasn’t a funny laugh - it was a painful, pulled from deep down in his chest that almost made him choke laugh, and he shook his head, hoping that Niall would understand without him having to say, “I can’t do this.” Was what Zayn managed, his voice ragged and rough as he spoke.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Act 1; Scene 2

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hostagesfic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hostagesfic/gifts).



When Harry had told everyone that he had snuck away between shows to audition for a play, they had been happy for him - it was great to branch out and have new experiences and really, it was just great. When Harry had gotten the role in the play, it was a bit more sobering. Harry was meant to be in New York City every day for the better part of six months. Sobering was a gentle way to handle it -- halting was maybe better. It wasn’t bad, not really, after several years of constant touring, constant pressure each of the boys needed a break and they were all differing levels of eager for the upcoming time off. 

Going from seeing each other nearly constantly to not seeing each other at all was weird, but it was passing the bump where they were used to getting back together and still not getting back together that got even more difficult. Each of the boys dealt with it differently, but Zayn took it the worst. Maybe it was because he didn’t know how to reach out to any of the boys, he didn’t know how to tell them that maybe this all wasn’t okay with him so instead he just said nothing. 

It was three weeks past when Zayn realised that he couldn’t take it anymore that he called Niall. It was three o’clock in the morning -- 3:42 AM to be exact and his fingers were trembling around his phone, a near empty bottle of whiskey sitting in front of him on his table. 

“Huh?” Niall’s voice was sleep thick and warm when he answered his voice and he was very clearly disoriented. “You okay?” Niall said finally, the sounds in the background, signaling that he was sitting up in bed and moving the covers around. 

Zayn nearly laughed at that, but it wasn’t a funny laugh - it was a painful, pulled from deep down in his chest that almost made him choke laugh, and he shook his head, hoping that Niall would understand without him having to say, “I can’t do this.” Was what Zayn managed, his voice ragged and rough as he spoke. 

Niall’s voice signaled his change in manner, he was more than alert and completely attentive, almost worried, when he spoke again, “Zayn. Where are you? What’s wrong? What’s going on?” The questions couldn’t fly off of his tongue fast enough and Niall knew something was wrong. 

“I miss you lot so much. I don’t know how how to function anymore. I don’t know how to exist in the world without you guys,” Zayn’s voice was soft, scared, like a lost dog and he couldn’t stop himself from shaking. 

“Are you home? I’ll come get you. You can come stay with me,” Niall said moving around his bedroom to get himself dressed at least presentable enough to head into London. Zayn’s voice nearly terrified him and he wanted nothing more than to be closer to the other male. 

“M’home, I’m so sorry. I’m so ridiculous, no one else is having issues like this. What is wrong with me?” Zayn stumbled over his words and he really did hate that he was so needy of the other lads and he wasn’t sure where it was along the way that he had become so utterly dependent on them. 

“No worries mate, I’ll be there in a bit okay. You just lay down and keep your phone on next to you, I’ll call if I need you.” Niall said, moving his phone around awkwardly to pull his jumper on before slipping into shoes and running out of his house. 

“The key is under the mat, you know.” Zayn said softly before letting out a breath and ringing off with Niall. The thought that everyone else was fine, Louis was off doing his thing, Harry was off in a play, Liam was attached to Sophia’s hip and Niall was more brilliant than ever made Zayn feel like sinking in on himself. His hands were still shaking, his eyelids were heavy and he just wanted his boys. 

As soon as Niall got in the car, he hovered his finger over calling Liam. Then Louis. Then, well, he stopped himself because he knew it was probably a weird time in America where Harry was busy but in the end he just flicked over to the music on his phone deciding that once he was comfortably on the ferry he might call Liam to give him a heads up that something was going on. 

An hour into the trip and several calls to make sure there would be a ferry ready to go, Niall had pulled onto the ferry and turned his car off, getting out and stretching his arms over his head. He first sent a text to Zayn that said he was on his way and would be there in approximately eight more hours before he sat down on a bench and dialed Liam. 

“Hello?” Liam’s voice was scratchy, in a way Niall imagined his had sounded when Zayn had called him. “It’s like nearly 5 what’s wrong?” Liam stretched his arms over his head as he sat up in the bed and carefully pulled the covers around Sophia. 

“Hi. It’s Zayn.” Niall said softly, as if he were trying to keep from waking Liam up any further than he had already done. 

Liam pulled his phone away from his ear to confirm that it was actually Niall calling. “Niall, I know it’s you. What do you want? You’re going to wake Sophia.” His voice was tinged with a certain level of annoyance, as if he assumed NIall was just prank calling him because he was bored. 

“No, I mean. Zayn’s what’s wrong. He called me about an hour ago and didn’t sound good. I’m on my way there now. On the ferry. I told him I would come let him stay with me for a bit.” Niall explained quickly, the fingers of his left hand moving up to his mouth so he could chew on the skin around his nails which was a bad habit, but one he couldn’t manage to get rid of. 

“You’re on the ferry?” Liam said, the click of the door behind him as he walked out into the living room to avoid waking Sophia. “You’re driving? It’s like a ten hour drive. Why didn’t you fly?” Liam’s voice was still thick with sleep as he spoke. 

“Fly what?” Niall asked, his head tipping to the side as he looked around, the early morning still nestled in dark with the exception of the lights on the ferry. 

“On an airplane? You could have been here in like an hour.” Liam said, the annoyance creeping back in his voice as he stretched his legs to cross them on the coffee table. 

Niall clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth, looking up at the sky and letting a sigh leave his lips after a moment, “I,” He started before pausing to laugh softly, “I didn’t even think about flying. He just sounded such a mess and I was half asleep, I jumped in my car and here I am. Fuck. Anyway, like, I don’t know that I need anything, I just wanted you to be aware that something was up with him, you know?” Niall reached up with his left hand to push his fingers through his hair, reminding himself how dumb he was for actually driving all this way. 

“If you need me to go over there and visit with him until you arrive that’s fine, just let me know.” Liam suggested, a yawn escaping his lips before he spoke again, “What was wrong? Did he say?” 

“Just said he missed us. Said he couldn’t do it.” Niall said quietly, the words Zayn had said to him replaying over in his mind and making him feel like his head was spinning, “I think he might have been drunk, so I’m hoping he will sleep most of the time until I get there anyway, you know?” Niall pushed himself up from the bench in favour of pacing up and down a small space on the ferry. 

Liam sighed quietly, listening to Niall and the noises around him before getting himself up to go to the kitchen for a drink. “I don’t want to just turn up there when he’s only called you. Let me know if you think he needs someone there though, before you can get there I mean. Just let me know what you need.” He said nodding his head as if Niall could see him. 

“I’m going to try and see what he’s doing now. I’ll let you know. Thanks Liam. Sorry I woke you up,” Niall said followed by their goodbyes and both of them ringing off the call. 

Niall gave himself a few minutes of feeling like the dumbest person in the world for actually jumping in his car and driving there rather than flying, which would have taken a fraction of the time before flicking through his messages to find Zayn and sending him a message. 

Niall: Z, are you up still? 

Zayn: Yes. I’m fine. Sorry I made a big deal. 

Niall: I’m on my way there. 

Niall kept his eyes on the phone, watching as the text bubble appeared, disappeared, appeared again for an extended period of time and then disappeared. He shook his phone in his hand and glared at it, as if the phone had something to do with the reason he hadn’t received a message back. Moving his finger up to the back option, he went back to his list of messages, back to Zayn’s thread, back to the list and shook his phone again -- and really, no message was coming through. Sighing, Niall shoved his phone in his pocket just in time for it begin vibrating with an incoming call. 

Pulling his phone out again, he saw Zayn’s name on the screen and quickly answered, “Hiya mate.” Niall said softly, deciding on heading back to sit in his car as a slight chill had over taken him. 

“You don’t have to come here,” Zayn said softly, more muffled than he had sounded before, as if he were pulled up to his chin in covers. 

“I’m on my way. Like an idiot I didn’t even consider flying, so I drove. So it’ll be the even before I get there,” Niall said softly, laughing at himself and hoping Zayn would find some humour in his mindlessness. 

“I feel bad,” Zayn said instead, the rustle around his phone of the sheets he was adjusting around himself. 

“Don’t. You can come back and visit with me and it’ll be fun, we can road trip. We’ve never been on a road trip that wasn’t for the band anyway.” Niall said, finally finding some good in the fact that he had a seven hour drive ahead of him. 

“Okay.” Was what Zayn managed to say and it was followed by a yawn. “M’gonna go to sleep now. I’ll see you in a while.” And with that, without hanging up, he was asleep, eyes close and nose buried down within the covers. 

Niall was never less than amazed at Zayn’s ability to just fall asleep - anywhere and anytime, but either way it made him smile and he was excited to be seeing the other boy even under the circumstances. 

When the ferry was finally docked, Niall was eager to get his car off for a few reasons, the first being food and the second being that he was on his way to see Zayn. After a quick stop off at a McDonald’s, Niall programmed the address into his GPS and headed for Zayn’s. 

It was only three times during the trip that Niall actually cursed himself for not just leaving his car in Dublin and hopping on a plane to get to London, but once the city scape was in his view, he was glad he had spent the time driving. He thought maybe, if nothing else, the drive back would be calming and collecting to Zayn. Glancing up at his GPS, he knew that he was near Zayn’s, and when he pulled in, he quickly shut that off and grabbed his phone, flicking through the messages he had received while driving. A quick message back to Liam to let him know that he was in London, about to walk into Zayn’s and would call him as soon as he knew what was going on, and Niall was out of his car and heading up to Zayn’s front door. 

It wasn’t that Niall didn’t know what to expect, but he was nervous about the situation ahead of him and even more nervous about being the person that Zayn called when he felt the way he was feeling. Forgoing the doorbell, Niall reached down and retrieved the spare key, opening the door and letting himself in before calling out Zayn’s name. 

“M’in the kitchen,” Zayn returned in a voice that sounded choked, almost hoarse like it hadn’t been used in too long. Wasn’t far off the truth really, the last time Zayn had used his voice was when he had called Niall in the middle of the night and truth be told, he didn’t exactly remember the conversation that they had. 

“Do you know that if fans knew you kept a key under your mat you’d have different people crawling into your bed every night?” Niall said, kicking his shoes off and heading into the kitchen where he dropped the key and watched Zayn who was busy with making tea. 

“Funny that no one’s ever tried that.” Zayn said poking his tongue out over at Niall and something about just having his best mate in the room with him sent a warm and calming feeling through Zayn’s body. “Sorry if I scared you.” He added sheepishly, lifting a shoulder to shrug and then dropping it back down again. 

“No worries, mate. I think the drive back will be good for you. Then we can just hang out at mine and golf or,” Niall paused, closing the space between himself and Zayn and wrapping his arms around Zayn to pull him into a hug. 

Zayn felt like his heart skipped a beat, or maybe three, when Niall wrapped around him and although it startled him just slightly it was exactly what he needed. He had become so accustomed to being constantly wrapped up in one of his boys that being alone, although comforting, seemed a little weird. Turning, Zayn wrapped his arms around Niall and hid his face in his neck, taking in a deep breath of the familiar scent that always came along with him. 

A moment later, Niall pulled back and patted Zayn on the back with a soft smile before making his way around him to finish his tea for him, grabbing a mug to make some tea for himself as well. 

“I am terrible at golf,” Zayn pointed out, glancing over at Niall and reaching out to take his tea mug from him. He immediately brought it to his lips and let the steam of the hot water warm his face, but he pulled it away before taking a sip from the mug. 

“I’m not great. I put in a driving range. It’s so beautiful, I just spend all my time out there drinking beer and hitting golf balls,” Niall explained with a shrug, “And then when we get done, I’ve got this brilliant vacuum thing you drive around and it sucks up all the golf balls.”

Zayn raised his eyebrow at Niall before finally lifting his mug to sip at his tea, “You’re honestly the weirdest fucking person I’ve ever met in my entire life.” He said with a soft laugh before licking over his lips, “I did pack a bag though, so that I could like, stay for a few days. And pick up your golf balls apparently,” Zayn smirked as he watched Niall sipping at his tea, shrugging his shoulder and dumping his half filled mug into the sink. 

One Month Later… 

Zayn hadn’t really thought when he packed for a long weekend away at Niall’s that he would settle into a habit and never want to leave Niall’s, but it seemed that happened a little too easily for him and as far as he could tell, Niall was quite happy with the arrangement as well. They had been used to constant time together, but it was usually with the other boys around and now just the two of them in Niall’s sprawling house had them learning each other differently. 

It was around 11 when Zayn found his way out of the bedroom -- they had started in two different rooms, but just in the last week or so, they had both ended up in Niall’s bed and that was okay -- he would stumble down the stairs, groaning at Niall who had just returned from a jog in excessively bright coloured work out clothes and a smile to match. 

“Must you always been so bright and loud in the morning?” Zayn groaned, pouring himself into a chair at the table and stretching his legs in front of him. 

“It’s nearly afternoon,” Niall said and without even thinking about it he made his way over to Zayn, dropping down and pressing a kiss to his mouth. Actually, if he were honest, he’d been thinking about it for days, but he wasn’t sure when or how to do it, and apparently his sweat soaked, exhausted body decided now was the time to do it. 

Zayn’s head tipped back when Niall leaned over him and the kiss was quick. Quick enough that he blinked his eyes and glanced at Niall to make sure what what he thought just happened had actually happened. “Did you just?” He asked slowly, smacking his lips together and raising his eyebrow at Niall. 

“Yeah.” Niall said, stepping back and shrugging, a red blush spreading over his cheeks as he nodded towards the stairs, “Gonna go grab a shower. Get ready so we can go hit some golf balls.” He said, not waiting for Zayn to have a response before turning and jogging up the stairs away from the incredibly awkward situation he had just created. 

In the time Zayn had been staying with Niall, he had only humoured him and played golf with him twice, so his first instinct was to just shrug it off and curl up in bed again. Giving himself a moment to think about it, Zayn decided that he wanted to be close to Niall even if it meant embarrassing himself playing golf. 

When Niall returned down the stairs, Zayn had straightened his hair out and slipped a pair of shoes on, his pyjamas still his outfit of choice. “I’m going like this,” Zayn announced, getting up from the table immediately and making his way over to Niall - to do nothing more than invade his space. 

“Sounds like a plan to me,” Niall said softly, taking a step back from Zayn, his discomfort set in the worrying look on his face. It wasn’t that he had meant to fall in love with Zayn, not really, but he couldn’t help it with the way Zayn’s face lit up when Niall ordered in pizza. Or the way he laughed silently when they watched telly together. Or the way that -- well, really he could have gone on all day, but either way, to put it plainly, he was certain he was fucked.   
Zayn knew that something, it might have been about two weeks ago, something shifted on it’s axis between the two of them and he wasn’t exactly sure what. Being honest, he probably knew exactly what it was, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to acknowledge it. He wasn’t sure he wanted to do much but stay close to Niall and ignore everything else. “I got water out for us,” He said helpfully, grabbing both of the bottles and smiling at Niall before he headed for the front door. 

It was beautiful outside of Niall’s house, everything was green and lush and happy looking and not long after buying the property, he had purchased a golf cart, using his knee as an excuse to drive it down to the driving range that he had put in. Partially, he just liked the drive, the fresh air, but mostly he was just entirely too lazy to carry his things down every time he went. “I’m sorry about that. I mean, in there,” Niall motioned towards the house as he headed for the golf cart. 

“It wasn’t bad,” Zayn said suddenly and if he was on Niall’s heels walking, it was just because he didn’t want Niall to get too far from him. When Niall stopped in his tracks Zayn ran right into the back of him, both bottles of water falling from his hands as he sputtered for a breath, blinking his eyes and mumbling out softly, “Fuck, I’m sorry.” He leaned down to pick up both of the bottles of water, stepping back from Niall, his cheeks hot and his hands curled tightly around the bottles. 

“I don’t want you to be weird around me. I shouldn’t have kissed you. It’s okay if you don’t want that.” Niall said lightly, his eyes moving around to look everywhere but at Zayn. “I just. I’ve always felt different about you Zayn.” And if he was taking this as his moment to just put it all on the table, that was neither here nor there. 

“I said it wasn’t bad,” Zayn snapped, stepping closer to the golf cart and sitting both of the water bottles down before turning back towards Niall and glaring at him. “I just didn’t expect it. I didn’t expect for you to want to kiss me.” He said firmly, scrunching his nose up and crossing his arms over his chest firmly. Of course with Zayn’s luck, trying to tell someone how he felt about them would end up in a fight. 

“I’m just saying that you don’t have to act like you like me just to make me happy, I’m fine.” Niall said, his weight shifting from one foot to the other and then back again as he watched Zayn in front of him. 

“I’m not acting like anything Niall.” Zayn huffed, stepping forward and with no real finesse at all, leaning in to press his lips to Niall’s lips softly, “I’m saying that I want you too. That I like you.” He was certain he might stumble over his words, but instead he sounded firm, confident and sure of himself. 

Niall wasn’t expecting a kiss from Zayn, he wasn’t expecting for Zayn to feel any sort of way towards him and the words made Niall’s heart swell, his stomach going from the sinking feeling it had to feeling like he was over the moon and he immediately moved his hands to Zayn’s waist, holding him close and smiling at him. “Oh,” Niall said dumbly, the grin not fading from his lips at all. 

“You’re such an idiot,” Zayn said with a smirk, wrapping his arms around Niall’s shoulders and stepping in to kiss his lips again before nodding towards the golf cart. “Let’s go play a bit and then come back and we can talk more about other things, if you want.” He said, pulling Niall into a hug before letting go and stepping onto the golf cart, sitting the water between his feet and watching as Niall made his way around to get into the cart. 

“I’m not an idiot, you’re an idiot.” Niall quipped, flicking his tongue out over his lips and reaching over to pinch at Zayn’s bicep before flipping the cart on and heading down towards the driving range without any warning to Zayn. 

“Fuck!” Zayn reached over and grabbed for Niall because he wasn’t the greatest driver and he wasn’t expecting Niall to take off, “You’re such a jerk.” He whined, pressing his lips together and laughing softly as they almost seemingly fell back into their normal banter. 

“Whatever you deserved it,” Niall said, smirking over at Zayn and then focusing back in front of him as he drove them down to the driving range. He wasn’t sure how things would go with him and Zayn, if Zayn would want to leave and go home when he found out how Niall felt. So far, so good; he thought. 

As soon as the golf cart was stopped, Zayn let himself out, huffing over at Niall and sticking his tongue out. “They make a place for people like you,” He said making his way around the cart and reaching out for Niall’s hand as soon as he got out of the golf cart. 

Niall smiled and slipped his hand into Zayn’s, twisting his wrist just enough that their fingers locked together and a smile spread over his lips. “I’m so glad that you weren’t like completely pushed away from me.” He said quietly, squeezing Zayn’s hand and then letting go of it to grab his clubs off the back of the cart. 

“No. I wouldn’t be like that.” Zayn said softly, following Niall and waiting for Niall to get him all set up before he moved a golf ball onto the tee and took a swing at it. 

It was about thirty minutes later when Zayn returned his club to the back, kicking his shoes off and pulling his shirt off and laying back on the grass, his shirt folded up into a pillow behind him. 

Niall was focused on golfing, his attention purely on what he was doing and making sure that he was taking good swings. It took him a few minutes to look back and see Zayn, shirtless and stretched out on the grass, his eyes closed and arms tucked up behind his head. Pushing his hat off his head, Niall sat his club off to the side and turned around to look at Zayn. 

Without opening his eyes, Zayn could feel eyes on him and rather than opening them, he tipped his head in the direction he knew Niall was and raised his eyebrows just slightly. 

“What exactly are you doing?” Niall asked curiously, making his way over to Zayn and standing just in the line of the sun, blocking the sun from Zayn. 

“Getting a tan,” Zayn said, opening one of his eyes to look at Niall followed by the other eye and his lips turned up into a small smile. “I was bored of playing, it hurts my hands,” He mumbled, shrugging and moving one of his hands to rest on top of his stomach. 

“You’re awful,” Niall said softly, making his way over and straddling Zayn’s body, sitting back on his thighs and looking down at him. It was a bold move for Niall, but it really was Zayn’s fault, for lying half naked and being more attractive than any person he had ever seen in his life. 

“How am I awful? I’m still out here participating in your sport,” Zayn pointed out with a smirk and a roll of his eyes as he looked up at Niall who was looking down at him with half of a smirk. 

“Because you’re really hot and I’m not sure how I’m supposed to focus on playing golf with you laying over here like the most beautiful person in the world,” Niall’s face had a grin on it but his words came out in a huff, his head tipping to the side to look down at Zayn as he wiggled just slightly on his lap. 

“Well than my master plan has worked, hasn’t it.” Zayn grinned, flicking his tongue over his lips and laughing softly before he moved his hands up to rest on Niall’s waist, squeezing softly at his sides and shrugging his shoulders back against the grass. 

“What exactly is your master plan, Zayn?” Niall asked curiously, looking down at the boy below him and moving his hands to rest on Zayn’s chest, his fingers curling against his skin and pressing down just slightly. 

Zayn’s back arched up into Niall’s touch and a small breath left his lips, it had been so long since he had been touched by someone - more particularly by someone that he really wanted to touch him. “Dunno entirely yet,” Zayn admitted quietly, pushing his thumbs so they went under Niall’s shirt and brushed over his hip bones gently. 

“Well suppose you ought to figure that one out, haven’t we?” Niall asked, licking over his lips and leaning down to brush his nose gently over Zayn’s nose before pressing a light kiss to his lips before sitting back up and giving him a small smile. “Quite need to know what it is you’re up to in there,” he said softly, letting a quiet laugh leave his lips. 

“Was wondering when it was you were going to give me a proper kiss.” Zayn said, puffing his chest up and letting the air out in a slow exhale of breath. “It’s nice to know how you kiss your nan but I think I might want to know how you kiss someone you fancy,” Zayn’s voice was joking and it was riddled with a laugh, a smirk spreading over his lips when he finished speaking. 

“You’re unbelievable, I swear.” Niall said, sliding his hands off Zayn’s chest and onto the grass on either side of him as he leaned down and connected their lips into a kiss. His lips were parted just slightly when he kissed him, his tongue flicking out over Zayn’s lips, licking into his mouth and over the roof of his mouth. 

Zayn dropped his jaw open under Niall, a quiet gasp leaving his lips as they kissed, his tongue reacting and tangling itself with Niall’s tongue, his arms sliding around and over Niall’s back, scratching down gently over his shirt. 

Just a few moments later, Niall pulled away, licking over his lips to get more of the taste of Zayn on his lips before his lips twisted up into a grin, “Is that better then?” He asked, his head tipping to the side slightly. 

“Took you long enough, didn’t it.” Zayn grinned reaching up and pulling Niall down into another kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoy this -- I really want to add more to it at some point or another, but with everything that happened with real Zayn and some stuff happening in my real life, I just really struggled pulling this one together! Sorry if it disappoints! xx


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